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Reagan Was Wrong

OK, the title is overwrought. We are talking about a specific quote. It is from Jonah’s new book. He starts his second chapter with quotes from Horace and Ronald Reagan. Ron’s quote ends with:

[F]or [freedom] only comes once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never know it again.

Of course, Ron was in part responsible for falsifying himself. Eastern Europe lost its freedom but got it back. We could argue about Russia or China but clearly countries like Poland lost their freedom and got it back. We have spent some time in Poland and know how aware Poles of our age are about losing and regaining freedom. Younger folks, like our students, who have always known freedom are not as aware of what can happen.

Two interesting questions are: whether it is harder to get freedom back or get freedom for the first time and does freedom wax and wane?

In answering the first question we are sure that both situations are difficult but we think that Venezuela has a better chance to become free again than those countries that have never known freedom. It is a chance for research.

In answering the second question, we are sure that freedom waxes and wanes. We left out the part of Ron’s quote about the necessity of defending freedom. Surely, almost everyone would agree that Ron had a positive impact on freedom in the US and elsewhere. Thanks Ron for your spirited defense of freedom. You were right in the larger sense even if you proved yourself wrong.